Surprise
by Jade Aislin
Summary: Slash CE Chris has a gift to share with Ezra.


Surprise by Jade Aislin

*for Bec's birthday. I know it's late. . .I had a little trouble with my muses.

author's note: this story is sort of a crossover with The Sentinel. However the character from the sentinel is only mentioned in passing.

author's note 2: This is the first fan fiction I have actually completed.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Ezra finished his report with a weary sigh. After spending two months undercover, all he wanted was to go to Chris' ranch and relax. Knowing he'd never be able to relax until he had summarized his observations of the case and placed the detailed and cleanly typed report on Chris's desk.

He'd already checked his emails, receiving some rather lengthy messages from his cousins, the only two people who accepted him as he was before he had joined team seven. Since he had been unable to communicate with them, Chance had decided to describe what was going on in her life, including whole snippets of transcriptions of some humorous chats she had done with Vin. Blair had done the same thing, only his left bits out due to current cases at the police station where he worked.

Ezra entered the empty office and smiled. Chris had told everyone they could leave when they finished there reports and had wished them all a good weekend. Chris himself had left earlier that day, after a quick peck on the lips for Ezra. He had told Ezra that he had a surprise to set up back at the ranch and to come by when he was done there. It still amazed Ezra that the deep love he himself felt for the man was returned.

Ezra could still remember the short email his older cousin had sent saying he had found his treasure, his sentinel. He hadn't actually said it out right. But to Ezra and Chance it was easy to hear what was left unspoken. Later Ezra had received another email. This time entailing that his promiscuous cousin was in love and wasn't he happy that he had found a guy who loved him. That email had sparked his admittance over his own feelings for his dark clad leader. What followed was an exchange of rapid emails between the three cousins that resulted in Ezra confronting Chris and finding out that his feelings were not as one sided as he had thought.

Even though they had both admitted their love, they were still taking things slow. Not wanting the heat of lust to spoil things. Ezra couldn't wait to get to the ranch and relax with his lover.

After leaving the Chris' office, Ezra quickly packed up and headed for his car. Making his way to the highway, he glanced at the clock. 6:00. Good. He could be at Chris' by eight. Ezra slowed down as he got on the highway. He frowned when he realized how congested the traffic was. He mentally sighed when the traffic seemed to come to a stand still. He reached for his cell phone, thinking to tell Chris he would be late, only to find his cell needed charging. With nothing to do except wait for the traffic to clear, his mind started to wander.

He wondered what the surprise was. Whatever it was he was sure to like it. He had seen Chris talking to Vin. And Vin had been talking with Chance. Chance would never do anything to upset him. On the contrary, she would do whatever it took to keep her cousins happy and anyone who hurt them would pay. Some of Ezra's former coworkers were already starting to feel her wrath. After only being in Atlanta a few hours she had gotten at least one agent shunned from his local drinking establishment. When the agent had finally cleared all the rumors, or at least the ones that were false, no one could say for certain who had started things. It was as if Chance had disappeared into thin air.

Ezra wouldn't have known if Chance hadn't sent him an Atlanta article describing a huge bar fight that had brought all the rumors to a head. Chance had also explained exactly what happened to the agent. The same sort of thing happened to other FBI agents in Atlanta, but they didn't realize that there had been an outside force stirring things up. When asked if she thought she had done enough, Chance had answered no and Ezra winced at the poor men back in Atlanta.

Ezra blinked as the traffic congestion finally cleared and he was finally moving along. He again checked the clock on the dashboard and frowned at the glowing numbers. He knew the clock was mocking him, displaying 7:45. It would take another hour to reach the ranch. After sighing at the late hour, Ezra wondered if he would even be able to stay awake for the surprise.

At nine o'clock, Ezra quietly pulled into the ranch. Trying to be quiet, so as not to wake Chris, Ezra locked up his car and searched his keychain for his key to the ranch. Upon entering the living room, Ezra noticed Chris curled up on the couch sleeping. A drink sat on the in table beside. It was obvious had tried to wait up for Ezra and failed. Ezra smiled and nudged the sleeping man gently.

"Chris. Come on Chris, let's get you to bed." Chris roused enough to be pushed, prodded, and pulled toward his bed. Ezra was able to get Chris' shirt off successfully, but when he moved to take off his boots and socks, Chris objected. Half asleep, Chris latched onto Ezra's arm and snuggled into Ezra. Ezra tried to get Chris to release him and shifted hoping to disengage the grasp. Instead Chris held on tighter, only loosening his grip to reach for more of Ezra until he was hugging the southerner in his sleep. Every time Ezra tried to move away, Chris would mutter and hold on tighter. Finally Ezra settled down to sleep, content to be in his love's arms.

Ezra woke early the next morning to the rich aroma of coffee. Opening his eyes, he blinked blearily at the image of Chris dressed in fresh clothes and holding a steaming mug up to Ezra's nose. Ezra looked around and noticed the sun had not risen yet. Glaring at Chris, Ezra groaned and turned over. Chris was no fool. Getting Ezra up this early was a death sentence if not handled properly. Chris chuckled and made Ezra sniff the coffee again. Finally getting the hot liquid down Ezra, Chris proceeded to dress and lead Ezra out the door to his saddled horse before Ezra realized what was happening. Ezra made small noises of confusion, but Chris quieted him with a short kiss. "It's part of the surprise."

After getting into the saddle, Ezra allowed Chris to lead his horse while he himself dozed only staying awake enough to not fall off the horse. Barely noticing when they stopped, Ezra remained on his horse while Chris got off and took the saddlebag he had packed over to a blanket that had already been spread out on the ground. As Chris helped Ezra down, he noticed the cliff they were on overlooked a dark and quiet valley. Chris led Ezra over to the blanket and still holding him, he sat down. He turned Ezra's head to the east.

As Ezra was about to question what Chris was doing, the first ray of light appeared on the horizon. In silence the couple watched as the cloud shrouded valley began to stream with light. In wonder at the beauty, Ezra settled back against Chris.

When the clouds dispersed, Chris reached over to the saddlebag and pulled out some wrapped egg sandwiches and a couple thermos. Ezra raised his eyebrow at the sandwich and thermos which he found contained more coffee. He looked at Chris questioningly.

Chris shrugged. "I was gonna show ya the sunset last night. But I figured you must have been held up." Ezra nodded at Chris' unasked question. "Figured you might like the sunrise if I could get you up."

Ezra smiled and dug into the simple breakfast. After finishing the meal, Ezra curled up with Chris on the blanket. Sighing in contentment, Ezra snuggled with his love.

"You're not upset with the early wakeup, are ya?" Chris asked worriedly. Ezra lifted his head off of Chris' shoulder. He gazed into Chris' hazel eyes and shook his head smiling. "No. It was beautiful, Chris. Thank you."

Gently pressing his lips against Chris', he attempted to convey his appreciation through the kiss. After a slow and deep kiss, Ezra settled back down to curl up against Chris' body as if it were his own teddy bear. Still smiling Ezra fell asleep as Chris held him.

*~*~*~*~*~* final note: Unfortunately, due to circumstances of life and muse for my OC in the sequel running off to who knows where, it looks like I will be unable to write that sequel. Sorry.


End file.
